Sailing Solitaire to Gold Coast, Day 1 & 2, 30th Nov / 1st Dec

Sat 30^th Nov.  St Andrew’s Day.   Having only got back to the GC from Melbourne on Tuesday evening, and then losing Thursday afternoon and evening due to a “very enthusiastic” acupuncture session (Don’t ask !!), I was still unpacking while simultaneously trying to get everything ready to head off to Rockhampton.  My ex-neighbour Jamie had asked if I would like to help him sail his 45 ft yacht Solitaire down from Rockhampton to the Gold Coast – About a 6-7 day trip, dependent on weather.   Initially I had hesitated as I am truly a landlubber, but after some consideration I realised that this would probably be the only chance ever in my life to have such an adventure, and with a very good friend  – So despite it being way outside my comfort zone,  I accepted !!   Jamie’s brother in law Neil was also coming from northern NSW, so he came to our house and then Janet drove us up to Brisbane airport to catch the flight to Rockhampton – And it was bucketing down with rain !!! Luckily, being Saturday, the traffic was OK and we made it to the check in desk with about 10 minutes to spare.  By the time we got to the gate they were already boarding the plane, which was good !!  Easy flight to Rocky, and then Jamie met us a drove us back to Solitaire in the marina in Yeppoon.

Sorrento to Surfers Nov 24, 25 & 26

Woke up at about 4.30 am the next morning with my mind whirring, so got up and started getting things sorted for the van.  It is always quite labour intensive packing the van because you do not just pack a suitcase and take it out to the car, but instead have to take things out to the car individually, find a place for them, and put them away.  And it all has to be done in a specific order, with things at the back / bottom needing to go in first, otherwise you find your self unpacking things you have already packed in order to get (forgotten) items into their correct places.  I know I am pedantic about this, but those who have ever travelled with me will know that if the things you want are at hand, and you know where everything is, then it makes for a much more relaxed and enjoyable trip !!  The smaller the space you have to live in, the more organized you  need to be !! 

I have just about worked out where things are best stored in Troopie, but this trip I had all sorts of unusual extras like suits, wedding hats (in large boxes !!), wedding presents, dress shoes and shirts etc etc to fit in there !  And on the way down I also had a lot of car parts to distribute , including 4 wheels and a cylinder head, but fortunately these were now gone, which did ease up the space restrictions a bit !
But of course it was raining this morning, which made loading the car out in the driveway even more interesting !!!!Grrrrr.

Melbourne to Rye and Sorrento Nov 22nd & 23rd

We spent most of the morning at Pete and Celia's place in the Dandenongs waiting to see if they would let him out of hospital after the op on his leg the previous night.  Their son Sam had an interview at a kind of 6th Form College that morning, so due to their inability to drive due to broken legs, Janet had to drive Sam and Celia to that, while I waited around until Pete was ready to be released and picked up from hospital. Eventually all fell into place, I picked up Pete, and Janet took off with Sam to his interview.  We also spent the morning stocking up their fridge and larder with food because it would be several days before they could get out and about, and then Janet also cooked up a few things for them to put in the freezer / fridge !!   I then had to leave because I had to pick up the keys for the house where we would be staying for the next few days down on the Peninsula.

Thredbo to Melbourne Nov 18th

On leaving Thredbo, the group of us that had been up on the chairlift motored easily down into Jindabyne at about noon for a cup of coffee and bite to eat. Dropping down off the mountain, the sun was out and Lake Jindabyne was a stunning view – Unlike it had been on Friday night when we approached in the grey and gloomy rain. 

  Afterwards, we said our farewells and the others took off east towards Canberra / Sydney, which I set off south towards the Victorian High Country.  As I have mentioned previously, this is one of my favourite parts of Australia, with stunning forest covered mountains, the Snowy River (of the movie “Man from Snowy River” fame, and rugged territory, and magnificent scenery. 

Brisbane to Thredbo Nov 13th

Aussie Elises first started when myself and a couple of Elise buddies (Kyle and Ashton), who knew each other in Europe, came back to Australia with our cars in 2003 and found a lack of Elise get-togethers existing  in Australia. Cut a long story short, November 2013 is thus the 10^th anniversary of Aussie Elises, and it (along with the 40^th anniversary of CLA) therefore needed to be suitably celebrated.  A spring weekend in Thredbo, a ski resort in the Snowy Mountains in NSW, seemed like a good place to do it, with access enabled through another member, Rob Bryden, who is a member of a lodge in Thredbo.  Being out of (snow) season it was not difficult to book accommodation and restaurants etc – All we had to do was get there !  The fact that I had to go to Melbourne the following weekend for a friend’s wedding made everything fit together perfectly !!  Some 20 cars / 30+ people planned to be in Thredbo. 

0051 Rosedale to Gold Coast

A very heavy dew this morning - It was almost as if it had rained.  But we got packed up fairly quickly, found the showers were actually quite good !!, and hit the road at about 8.30 am.

We were already on back road, and somehow we managed to stay on back roads for the next 2-3 hours !!   We got down to a single lane black top road, and then this then became a dirt road for about 20 kms !!  We started to wonder if we were on the right road !  Finally, just before Gympie, we got back on the main road, and then went into Cooroy for a bite to eat and a coffee.   Found a delightful little country town, so went to the bakery, had an excellent home made pie, and then did some veggie and meat shopping in the little greengrocers and the butchers, so we wouldn't have to shop as soon as we got home.

0050 Yeppoon to Rosedale

All good things have to end sometime I suppose, and it was time to leave Solitaire and Jamie and Susie, an after a blissful 3 days out at Keppel Island, head back do the rod towards the Gold Coast.   After having another shower in the marina facilities (too good n opportunity to miss !!), we then had a great breakfast and coffee there with Jamie and Susie before we hit the road south.  Thank you both SO much for a delightful time on Solitaire - Laughs like that are hard to come by - You are good friends.